A new electronic casino opens for business at Hoosier Park in Anderson today,
and another at Indiana Downs in Shelbyville is set to open next week. The parks are hoping to draw more than 3 million visitors
per year, providing a
big tax windfall for the state and local communities. Read more about their prospects
here. My question: What do you think
of the design of Indiana's casinos? Hoosier Park (above) certainly is no Las Vegas, but at least it's an improvement over
the faux riverboat in French Lick. Or is it? (Click either image for larger versions.)
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I have no problems with casino's. In fact I wish that a riverboat or 2 would go in downtown Indy on the White River off of McCarty and Kentucky. Take down Diamond Chain and the old abandoned warehouse at Kentucky and McCarty and a couple vacant lots in the area and put up a couple big nice hotels with access to a river boat casino. And imagine actually having a river boat on a river rather than a man made pond with a fake boat on it.
The southwest side of downtown would have so much investment and it would be a boon to the downtown economy. Less than a mile from the Luke, the Convention Center and the rest of downtown. It would be a tourism draw for sure. Couple that with SoDo east of the Luke and the southside of dowtown is quite an entertainment center.
Just an idea. It would increase tax revenue, tourism dollars, convention business, new construction, reviatlization of a downtrodden part of the city
I am a little worried that we keep expanding the gambling, but I have no problem with the riverboats.
Putting a casino downtown would have been smarter than putting them at these dying racetracks. Why the state feels compelled to prop up the horse racing industry. Breeding a lot of horses to see which ones are fastest and selling the rest of the stragglers at an auction to be shipped overseas for human consumption. Yeah, I guess that's an industry. On second thought, maybe it's not anymore subsidized than any other agricultural sector, but unfortunately these racinos are going to get 90+% of the revenue out of Hoosiers' pockets. At least a downtown casino could much more easily tap tourist and conventioneer dollars. Just my two cents.
I can't imagine that we won't see at least one downtown casino prior to 2012. It just seems to obvious.
If a man goes out and works 40+ hard hours a week and then wants to go out and gamble some of it on the weekend, that is HIS choice and I respect that.
I hate to make comments here political, but that is exactly the mentality that allows gambling as an alternate source of tax revenue proliferate. The State should not exploit/expand revenue sources that capitalize on addictive vices that factually gain from the lower class. That makes those revenues a regressive tax on poor people. A tenant of government is to do no harm and state supported gambling so obviously violates that principle. I'm scared that so many accept this as a direction we are headed. My comments mainly target state sponsored lotteries, but it's a fine line.
I work in Anderson and have had the chance to visit the new casino here. First and foremost, if you don't like to gamble...guess what? You don't have to go. Secondly, Hoosiers will gamble and if they are going to gamble, the State may as well work to keep the money here where it will benefit us directly.
Anderson used to have 80,000 people when the factories employeed over 25,000. Now there is no GM and the population of the ENTIRE County is just over 130,000 and Anderson is at 56,000. The residents though are paying for the infrastructure of a community nearly twice the size it is now and have a huge tax burden when compared to other Central Indiana communities. Basically, it is about time this City/County had a bone thrown its way! The revenue from the Casino is expected to be bewteen $8 and $10 MILLION annually for the local governments here, not to mention the $80 MILLION the State will be receiving. There will also be ancillary development in the Anderson area and that development will generate additional property taxes. In these taxing times, we should be pleased that a steady source of revenue is available. WIth the property tax reform, Madison County is looking at a HUGE shortfall and is considered borrowing money to pay for services...this casino couldn't have come at a better time!
Is this ideal or perfect? No, but it is better than nothing.
Finally, the design is HEAPS better than French Lick...why the State made them dig that moat is beyond me!